Down Once More
by Darkflame5
Summary: The final scene of the musical, from Erik's point of view, with elements from the equivalent scene in the book.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own PotO. The book belongs to Leroux, and the musical to ALW.

This is the first story I've actually worked up the courage to post on here. I actually wrote it ages ago for an English project.

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><p>I dragged her once again through the cold, dark tunnels that led to the subterranean lake. The panic from the theatre above us had become nothing more than a distant murmur. As the boat cut swiftly through the still water, I could see that she was terrified, though she made a great effort not to show it.<p>

When I had docked us at my house on the opposite bank, I gave to her a pure white wedding dress and ordered her to change into it. As she left the room, I felt triumph rise within me like a flame. She was mine, at last! At the heart of that flame, however, there was bitterness too. She was unhappy, scared, and I was fairly certain that at that moment, she absolutely hated me. But then she came back into the room, and my mind was wiped blank as slate. Oh, how breathtakingly beautiful she was! She was an angel; pure and radiant.

Suddenly, I heard a sound. The glassy surface of the lake had been shattered. I turned round and saw that boy, Raoul, standing there looking rather like a drowned rat. I heard Christine cry out his name, and I felt a flare of jealousy rise up and blind me. Through a red haze, I watched him rush toward Christine to ensure that she was safe. But before he could reach her, a rope fell as if from nowhere and he was caught, his life slowly choking out of him.

Christine cried out to him, and at her cry, the reddish mist in front of my eyes dissipated as though struck by a sunbeam. Don't think that this meant I was going soft, though. My mind simply became coherent again, and my thoughts as clear and cold as ice. My face twisted itself into an insane grin as I thought of a truly brilliant idea. And so I presented to Christine a choice: she could willingly stay with me, and I would let the boy live. Or, she could choose to be with him, in which case he would die and she would be allowed to go free.

How horrified she looked! Such pain in her eyes as she looked between me and the boy. He was trying to say how he loved her, but that she shouldn't throw her life away just to save his, choking out the words past the noose tightening around his neck. She turned her gaze once more towards me, and a strange look came into her eyes. It wasn't a look of fear or hatred, and I could not understand it.

She came towards me, more silent than a ghost. And then, she kissed me. On my forehead. I was stunned, completely unable to comprehend what was happening. I wasn't even wearing my mask, which meant that she could see my face. My face, so scarred and deformed that it bore more resemblance to a corpse than that of a living being. And yet she had kissed my forehead. And then I felt her tears on my face, soft and sweet. They trickled down and mixed with my own. (I'm not sure when I had started crying, but undoubtedly had.)

At last, I understood that look I had seen in her eyes. It was pity and compassion. At this realization, my soul became heavy. I did not deserve this from her. And she did not deserve the dreary fate I had been ready to condemn her to. An angel like her should not be in this cold dark cave where she would be forever miserable. No. She would be happy in the light, with the wind and the noises of civilization. And her happiness was something that I could give to her, in return for the compassion she had shown me. The compassion no one had ever shown me before.

I quickly severed the rope that had been obstructing the boy's airway, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Go," I said.

They looked at me without the slightest trace of comprehension.

"I know you love him," I said to Christine, with only the slightest hint of sadness detectable in my voice. "Now go. Take the boat and get out of here. Forget all of this. Leave me. Go now!"

My voice had been rising in both volume and urgency. I could hear the distant rumblings of the mob from somewhere across the lake. I was not going to allow the two of them to be caught by said mob. The boy, too, recognized this urgency and left to untie the boat. But Christine hesitated for a moment, looking at me. Then the boy called her name, and she left. And I was alone in the darkness.

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><p>I hope I didn't make Erik seem too OOC. Like I said, I wrote this ages ago.<p>

The only thing I really changed from what was in the musical was the kiss. I decided to write that as it was in the book, because honestly, it makes a lot more sense to me that way.


End file.
